Steam condenser



A. W. 1 WM STEAM Y CONDENSER @wm H159 um gv Filed Dec. l0, 192.7

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TO AIR PUMP ECTADY, NEW YRE, admit-limit T@ @EINEM ,ELECTRI if A. CORWRATIN Uli NEW YRK .application tiled llcceinlicr l0, tutti,

The present invention relates to stcain con densers ci the tuhe type such as are used in power plants for condensing the exhaust troni a. steain engine or engines. ln connee tion with the use ot suoli condensers, as is vvell lrnovvn, the cooling vvater is passed through the tuhes and the exhaust steain is passed over the outside ot the tuloes and condensed. rlhe condensate is used lor ieeding the looilers since it represents a source el supply oit pure vvater and its use lor this purpose is iinportant in the operation et a povver plant. lior cooling vvater any available sup ply is utilised, titten the cooling vvater is impure and not lit lor use in hoilers, 'lor einy ample, in some instances salt vvater is util ized. Where irnpure cooling vvater, such as salt ivater lor eirarnple, is used in the con denser, it is important that no lealiage oit iinpure vvater into the condensate should taire place., lilovvever, in actual practice this is a thing dilidcult to prevent as etten one or incre tulbes ci the condenser may develop a leali due to hecoining corroded, pitted, or craclred, iter eirainplev, i l

The ohject oit in v invention is to provide an improved condenser construction vvherein il rupture occurs in a condenser tuhe the lealin age vvill he oi condensate or steani into the cooling water rather than that ot cooling vvater into the condensate. ils a result, theren tore, in an apparatus embodying rnv inven tion, there cannot occur contamination ot the condensate hjv the cooling vvat-er.

llor a consideration ot what l helieve to he novel and iny invention, attention is dim rectedto the accompanying description and the claires appended thereto..

ln the dravving, lilig. l is sectional vievv partljv diagrammatic, ol a tuhe condenser ernhodjving my invention; lig., il is a detail, sectional vievv oil a pressure control valve; liig. 2 is a detail vievv on a larger scale show-- ing the vvajv the tuhes'in Il are connected into the tuhe sheets; lilig. l is a vertical secm tional vievv oit a inodilied i'orin ol inv invenI tion; Fig. 4i is a detail vievv illustratingn the operation oi the modification shovvn in llig., 3, and lig. 5 is a detail, sectional vievv talren on line h-li, Fig., d,

not shown) anni in. atacar.

ltel'erring to the dravving, higs.. l and 2, l indicates the condenser shell, 2 and d the heads, and d the opening in the shell through which exhaust steani enters'. llt opposite ends oit shell l are tube plates l, and d in which are mounted the condenser tubes l. il is a partition plate dividing the chainher at the right-hand end ot the condenser shell into tivo parts. 'lhe inlet conduit lor cooling vvater is indicated at d and the discharge conduit at l0. 'lhe cooling vvater enters through conduit il, ilovvs through the tubes 'l' connected to tute plate il helovv' partition plate il to the lett hand end ol the condenser shell, then haelt through the tuhes connected vvith tuhe plate il ahove partition plate il and out through conduit l0. ll indicates a vvell in vvhich the condensate collects and troni vvhich it is pumped hy a punip l2: to a disu charge pipe lil which inap lead to a hot nell lrorn vv' ich the hoilers are supplied, or directly haelt. to the lioilers oit the plant.

'lhe condenser structure so lar descrihed is a lrnovvn one and is to he talren as illustrating any suitahle type ol tnhe condenser.,

Jaccording to the rnodiiication ol" in v invention shovvn in liigs, l and il, l provide in spaced relation to tu e plates and d, additional tuhe plates laland lli into vvhich are connected tu es ld, the tulies lll surrounding the condenser tnlies l in spaced relation thereto to provide annular spaces ll', llt their right hand ends the annular spaces ll' communicate `ivith a chaniher ld vvhich is lorined hetvveen tuhe plates n and l5 and at their lett hand ends thcv connnunicate vvith a chainher lil which is :torined hetvveen tuhe plates li and lt. il@ indicates a suitahle punip havingI its suction conduit nl connected to charnloer lll and its discharge conduit 22 connected to chaniher ld. lPurnp il@ naar he driven in ani suitahle inanner. .ller enanan ple, it rnay e driv'enhjv an electric rnotor Pump il() is thus adapted to circulate vvater continuously through the annular spaces ll, there heing provided a closed circuit lor the punap.

lhe arrangement is such that puinp @il vvill maintain the water vvhich it is circulating at a pressure higher than the pressure ol the till lll

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cooling Water in tubes 7. As a result, therefore, the condenser tubes 7 are surrounded by water of a pressure greater than. that of the cooling water iny the tubes. Any leakage which occurs, therefore, will be that of Water from annular spaces 17 into the condenser i tubes 7 and not from the condenser tubes out into spaces 17.

Any suitable supply of pure Water may be utilized for circulation through the annular passages 17 .Y I may with advantage em ploy condensate from the condenser and this v.arrangement is illustrated in the drawinge To this end, the suction conduit 21 of pump 20 is connected to the discharge conduit 13 of the pump '12 by a feed pipe 23. Preterably, I provide in feed pipe 23 a control valve which operates automatically to main? tain the closed circulating system sufficiently full of Water to maintain the pressure therein. The control valve is illustrated in section in Fige 2. It comprises valve casing 24 in which is a. valve 25 having its stem 26 connected to a flexible diaphragm 27 arthan the pressure in the cooling Water system, diaphragm 27 holds valve 25 closed. ln case, however, the difference in pressure decreases belowA the predetermined amount, a thing which may occur due to `Water leaking from the closed system thereby lowering` the pressure therein, then spring 31 serves to open valve 25 thereby admitting additional Water to the closed system so as to maintain the closed system filled and the pressure therein at the desired high value. In this connection, it will be understood that the pressure on the discharge side of pump 12 lis higher than the pressure in inlet conduit Fig. 2I1 shows the manner in which the concentric tubes 7 and 16 are connected to the tube plateswhereby the tubes may be removed and replaced Without removing the outside tube plates. 6 are provided with openings large enough for tubes 16 to pass through them and tubes 7 are expanded somewhat at their ends and are packed and centered in said openings by suitable packing means such as is indicated at 7a.v Tubes 16 fit the openings in tube plates 14- and 15 and are provided with suitable packing means such as is indicated at 16a. With this arrangement, it will be seen that by removing packing means 7 a The tube plates 5 and,

maaien tube 7 may be withdrawn and that then the outer tube 16 may be Withdrawn through the corresponding opening in the tube plates 5 or 6.

With the foregoing arrangement, it Will 7G be seen that automatically l maintain around each condenser tube a pressure higher than that Within the tube, so that, as already pointed out, any leakage will be into the conif denser tube and not out from the condenser tube. Also it will be seen that I provide means which automaticallyT maintains the closed circulating system full of Water so as to talre care of leakage from the closed system.

In the operation of the condenser, the heat from the steam to be condensed is transferred to the cooling Water through the intermediary of the pure Water in the annular spaces 17.

In Figs. 3, l and 5, have shown a modified ormof my invention wherein instead of sur- 85.

rounding the condenser tubes by separate tubes in order to maintain on the outside oi' the tubes a pressure higher than that Within them, l provide a means whereby the pres sure Within the tubes is maintained lower Q0 than or the same as that which exists in the condenser in the region surrounding the tubes. By this means, it will be seen that I accomplish the same result asis accomplished in the construction shown in Fi s. 1 and 2 in o5 that any leakage will be oi' steam or condensate into the tubes and not of cooling water from the tubes; or if balanced pressures exist, no iiow in either direction.

In Figs. 3, 4. and 5, 10 indicates the shell el me a vertical tube condenser, 41 and t2 indicate the upper and lower tube plaies, 43 indicates the tubes, and 44.indicates the opening through which exhaust steam enters the condenser. Which condensate is Withdrawn from the condenser shell and at 45 is indicated an air pump connection through which air is Withdrawn from the condenser shell( At the upper end of the condenser is a head 4G having!` 1m an inlet conduit 47 through Which cooling Water is supplied to the condenser. Head 46 is provided With several distributing` passages 48 which communicate with inlet conduit 47 and serve to distribute coolingA water 115 entirely over the tube plate L1 so that Water reaches all the tubes. Also, l may provide beides L19 in the head 1G between the rows o' tubes to assist in maintaining a more constant head of Water on each tube. baiiies are especially useul in case the condenser is used on shipboard as they will then serve to maintain a more constant head on each tube regardless o the roll oi' the ship.

Connected to inlet conduit 117 is a pipe 50 llti through which cooling Water is supplied from any suitable source, the pipe being provided with a regulating valve 51 `for regulating the cooling water supply as is usual. Also, connected to head 46 is an air pump connection l@ At 45 is indicated a pipe through m5 Such lac i by Letters Patent of the i512 tcllirough which air is withdrawn from the At the lower vend of the condenser are walls forming a chamber 53 in which is located a pump 54. The suction inlet 55 of pump 54 communicates with chamber 53 and the discharge pipe 56 passes out through a wall o f chamber 53 and may lead to any suitable discharge region.

The operation of the construction shown in Figs. 3 to 5 is similar to that of a combination surface and jet condenser. Pump 54 operates to remove the cooling water from chamber 53 and along with the air pump connected to pipe 52 to maintain in chamber 53 and the space within the tubes 43 a vacuum as low as or lower than that in the space surrounding tubes 43. Pipe 50 is connected to a source of cooling water supply, the cooling water being drawn up through the pipe to head 46 by the vacuum. Valve 51 is adjusted to regulate the volume of the cooling water supply so as to maintain such a head of water as will produce an initial velocity lower than the velocity which will be obtained due to gravity. With this arrangement, the water in the top of the tubes will be solid and as the velocity speeds up'due to the water fallingv by gravity down the tubes, air cores will be formed at the centers of the tubes and the cooling water will flow along the sides of the tubes to chamber 53. This is illustrated in Fig. 4 where 58 indicates the water at the tops of the tubes, 59 indicates the air cores and 60 indicates the Water flowing along the sides of the tubes.

It is desirable that chamber 53 be connected to head 46 so that the vacua are equal. This may be accomplished by the air cores or I may provide a separate air connection, a thing which may be done by extending one or more of the tubes 43 above the level of the liquid in head 46 as is indicated at 6-1. While I have referred to the cores 59 as being air cores, it will be understood, ofcourse, that actually but little air is present because of the high vacuum existing.

Since the pressure in tubes 43 is lower than the pressure in the region surrounding the tubes, any leakage Will be exhaust steam or condensate into tubes 43 and not leakage from tubes 43 into the condensate.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described the rinci le of operation of my invention, toget 1er with the apparatus I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof, but I desire to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desireto secure United States, is:

1. The combination with a surface condenser comprising means forming passages for the flow of cooling water, of means whereby there is maintained around said passageforming means throughout their length a pressure higher than that Within such passages whereby any leakage will be into the cooling water passages.

2. The combination with a surface condenser comprising tubes through which coolu ing water flows, of means whereby the pressure in the region surrounding said tubes is maintained throughout the length of said tubes at a value higher than the pressure within the tubes.

3. The combination with a surface condenser comprising tubes through which cooling water iiows, of means defining passages surrounding said tubes throughout their length, and means for maintaining in said passages a pressure higher than that within the tubes.

4. The combination with a. surface condenser comprising tubes through which cooling water flows, of means defining passages surrounding said tubes throughout their length, and means for Vcirculating continuously through said passages a fluid under a pres sure higher than the pressure within the tubes.`

5. The combination with a surface condenser comprising tubes through which cooling water Hows, of means defining passages surrounding said tubes throughout their length, and a closed circulating system connected to said passages, said circulating systeminclud ing pump means for maintaining in the system a pressure higher than that within the tubes.

6. The combination with a surface condenser comprising tubes through which cooling water flows, of means defining passages surrounding said tubes throughout their length, a closed circulating system connected to said passages, said circulating system including pump means for maintaining in the system a pressure higher than that Within the tubes, and means for automatically supplying fluid to said closed system.

7 The combination with a surface condenser comprising tubes through which cooling water flows, of means defining passages surrounding said tubes throughout their length, a closed circulating system connected to said passages, said circulating system including pump means for maintaining in the system a pressure higher than that within the tubes, and mea-ns for supplying condensate from the condenser to said closedu circulating system.

In witness whereof, I have hereto set my hand this 8th day of December, 1927.

ARTHUR R. SMITH. 

